Revenge of the Wolves

Snow watched from her spot near the campfire as Charming checked the saddle on his grey dappled stallion. They had already said their good-byes in private, so she stood at a distance, afraid that her resolve to separate would crumble with even one more touch. The 4 man delegation was preparing to leave for an audience with King Midas and Princess Abigail. Satisfied that the girth strap was secure, he mounted the horse. Dressed in his red royal overcoat with silver trim, Snow thought he looked quite noble and distinguished atop his steed; as if he had been born to be a prince. He turned his mount and trotted a few steps towards her.

"Be safe, my darling."

Before she could answer, Red appeared beside her. "I will keep watch over her."

Snow crossed her arms and leaned back. "The two of you act like I am some young maiden incapable of defending myself."

"On the contrary," he quipped, "we just both know the trouble you are capable of getting into."

"Ha," she scoffed, "the two of you should talk."

She pretended to be affronted by their teasing, but in actuality she was glad for the playful banter. A tearful goodbye would be too hard.

"You just make sure that Midas keeps his gloves on. I have no need for any golden statues."

"Even charming ones?"

"Especially charming ones."

"Than I shall do my best to return to you ungilded."

He winked at her, then turned his horse and galloped back to where the men where assembled and waiting for him. Snow watched as they rode off over the hills until they were gone from sight. Red placed a hand gently on her shoulder.

"We should probably get going ourselves soon. We will have to travel through the night as it is to make it to the fairy flower fields in a timely manner."

"Yes, we should leave," Snow agreed.

Hours into their travels, darkness began to creep over the Enchanted Forest. True to the name people from other kingdoms had given it, Misthaven became wrapped in a cool, smoky mist that settled in underneath the canopy of the trees. Snow shivered as the curling tendrils of water vapor penetrated through her cloak to chill her skin. The pair might have been forced to cease their journey for the night if not for the full moon, that ascended to cast a soft glow through the trees, illuminating their way. The woods thickened with overgrown vegetation the further north they traversed. Few humans traveled through this part of the forest, leaving it to the magical creatures that lived there. Fairies, sprites, unicorns, and gnomes made their homes in the swampy marshes of this part of the forest.

Snow bumped into the back of Red when, without warning, she halted her steps.

"Why are you stoppi-"

"Shh." Red put her hand up, gesturing Snow to be quiet. She closed her eyes, listening intently. "I'm sure I heard something."

"It was probably just the wind."

Snow had no sooner gotten those words out of her mouth than the pensive cry of a wolf announced his presence. Within moments others joined in his song. In her early years in the forest Snow would listen to their woeful cries and feel as if they were kindred spirits mourning a great loss. But recent experience had her rethinking her projected kinship with the creatures.

"Are they close?"

"Yes. We should keep moving."

Red feared they were here to seek retribution for the loss of their leader. Snow pulled out an arrow, just in case, as they hurried their pace. They had not gone far when Red grabbed her by the arm and backed them up against a tree.

"We have been discovered."

Snow nocked her arrow and peered out into the darkness. Hovering in the blackness, a pair of glowing golden eyes appeared. Her arrow pierced the left eye followed by a thump as his body hit the ground. There was a low growl to her right. She readied and released another arrow straight at the sound. The wolf let out a short yelp as death came. Rustling in the bushes behind them alerted them to the presence of still more enemies. Red stepped around the tree and knew they were in trouble. They were surrounded. Her own eyes glowed as she threw off her cloak.

"I'll lead them away."

"Red, no."

But it was too late. She was already running, her wolf form leading the pack away from Snow White. Distracted by what was happening with Red, Snow failed to notice the lone wolf who had stayed behind and was slinking towards her. She was not quick enough with her arrow. The beast lunged at her, knocking her down. His teeth bared, a line of saliva formed from the corner of his mouth, dripping to her cheek. She screamed as he bit into her forearm. A punch to his jaw startled him into releasing her. She continued to hit him with as much strength as she could muster, but she remained firmly pinned under his strong paws. Desperate she reached into her belt for the object there. She had no idea whether it would work or not as she brought the reed given to her by the huntsman to her mouth and blew. She heard no sound from it. With a grunt of frustration, she dropped the instrument and clasped her hands together using both arms for a shot to the animal's chest. Rolling out from under him, she tried to make it to her feet, but he latched on to her cloak pulling her back down. On all fours, she kicked at him repeatedly trying to get him to release the cloth. She heard the fabric rip and her body lurched forward at the sudden freedom. She was scrambling to her feet when she saw it.

A second wolf, this one massive, emerged through the mist in front of her, and knew she had no chance. She thought of her love for Charming and regretted that she had kept their union a secret, and ever given him a reason to doubt her love. She held her breath when she saw the other wolf charge prepared for the pain. But instead of attacking her, he vaulted over her, knocked the other wolf to the ground and locked his jaws into its shoulder. The smaller wolf wrestled himself free and the two engaged in a brawl. Snow stood up, looking for her bow which had been lost at some point during the struggle. She finally discovered it. She reached it just as she heard the snap of bone and the agonized bay that accompanied it. The first wolf lay whimpering, dying, its left hind-leg clearly broken. The other wolf stood still, eyes on Snow. As slowly as possible, she brought her bow up. The wolf did not move. For the first time, she noticed his eyes. One was blood red, the other the deepest black. She aligned her posture and pulled back the bow string. The wolf remained still. She sensed something trustworthy, almost friendly in his gaze, even with the strange eyes. Snow could not bring herself to shoot, instead she bent down and placed her hand out. The wolf took a few tentative steps forward before he stopped and flinched his ears. A howl once again broke out through the night. This one she recognized.

"Red," Snow screamed out, filled with worry. "Red, where are you?"

She turned to the wolf. She had only ever communicated with birds and a few small woodland animals, but it was worth a shot.

"We need to find my friend. She needs help. Can you find her?"

Another howl carried through the darkness. The wolf raced off in the direction of the cry. Snow quickly picked up Red's coat and turned to follow. She had only gone a few steps when an arrow punctured the tree next to her head.

"Move and the next one goes in your back."

Before she could even contemplate what her next move should be, two hands grabbed her upper arms and a hood was placed over her head. Her struggle didn't last long as more hands grabbed her legs. There were at least four of them from what she could tell. She was bound and gagged and thrown over the back of a horse. She didn't know who had her, but she heard the clinking of their chain mail. They were definitely soldiers.

Red bounded on all fours through the trees, the sound of hooves close behind her. She twisted and turned in and out of trunks, unable to lose them. Exhaustion was bearing down on her. She was still new to the change and did not have the stamina to stay in wolf form for extended periods of time. She came upon a stream and entered the water hoping they might lose her scent. She splashed through the water for several meters before crossing to the other side. Drained, she fell to her knees just beyond the shoreline. The wolves had been trailing too close behind for the water to mask her scent. They followed her across the stream and descended upon her returned human form. With no energy left to fight, she scooted backwards across the ground.

"Please no," she pleaded. "I'm one of you."

She expected to be killed, hoping at least, that she had protected Snow. She noticed a large silver wolf standing at the waters edge. His rumbling snarl was a warning, but it was not directed not at her, rather at the wolves attacking her. The pack forgot about her as a five-on-one stand-off ensued. Red looked around for a weapon which she could use to defend herself if needed when she noticed two twinkling lights dancing through the air. When they got closer Red was able to make out what they were.

"Blue, we need your help."

"Indeed you do." She turned to the fairy accompanying her. "Orange, could you take care of this?"

The brown haired fairy in the orange dress untied a pouch from her waist. Flying above the wolves she sprinkled pixie dust over them. Soothed by the magic, the savage wolves laid down like penitent puppies.

Red stood and dusted herself off. "I'm glad you showed up when you did."

Blue introduced her companion. "Red, meet Orange, the animal fairy."

"Thank you for your help with the wolves."

"Your welcome. Werewolves are not bad creatures, but people fear them and so they are hunted. They do what they think they must to survive."

"Red herself is a child of the moon," Blue informed the other fairy.

"You can call me Fawn," the orange dressed fairy hovered near Red's ear and whispered. "Blue likes to call us by our colors before we've officially earned our wings. She thinks it keeps us in our place I guess, but my name is Fawn."

"Nice to meet you Fawn."

"What's your real name?"

"Actually, Red is my real name."

"Oh...uhm...sorry." Fawn's wings fluttered in embarrassment.

"What are you doing in this part of the forest, Red?" Blue inquired, her tone reeking with disapproval.

"Snow and I were looking-" She stopped mid-sentence. "Oh my goodness, Snow. We have to find Snow. We separated when the wolves attacked us."

Blue pointed to the red-eyed wolf. "I have a feeling he can lead us to her. Orange, take care of the werewolves. Make sure that they don't get into anymore trouble tonight."

Red and Blue followed the wolf back to where he had left Snow White.

"Here," Red said, pointing to an obviously disturbed section of ground. "This is where we were first attacked, but she's no longer here. Her scent is faint."

Red frantically searched the area, calling out her name. That was when she spied the arrow embedded into the tree. She walked to the tree intending to inspect it for blood when she tripped. Looking down she saw the red fabric of her cloak. Snow's bow and quiver lay just a few meters away. She bent down to inspect the area more closely.

"Horses. Several men were here with horses after we were attacked. Their prints are on top of those of the wolves." She could not hold back the tears. "Snow White must have been captured."

Blue morphed to human-sized and placed her hand on Red's shoulder. "Do not worry. We will find her. I will do what I can to help."

Red wiped the tears from her eyes, crying would not help. She thought of her dear friend, the woman she considered a sister. What should she do? She dug deep into herself looking for the boldness to go against her heart. To do what she knew she must. What Snow White herself would have the courage to do. She took a deep breath and turned to the blue fairy.

"We need to go back to camp and figure out a way to get word to Prince James. Our battle plan has already been put into motion. We can no longer stop it. To do so now, even if it is to rescue our princess, would put many more lives danger. Snow and I were to lead our forces. They are waiting for us to return to camp, if we don't it could jeopardize the whole strategy."

"And you're sure that is the best action? They can't be that far ahead of us, the tracks are fresh, easy to follow."

"Snow has never considered her life more important than anyone else's. She would never forgive me if the battle was lost, if lives were lost, because I left them to rescue her."

"If Snow is to be queen, she must accept that which goes with it. She is to be protected at all costs, her life is more important. Others sacrifice for her. That is how it works. That is the burden she must learn to carry. She must find a way to live with the hard choices required of her."

"Snow has never shied away from the hard choices, choices for the greater good. Today I must make one of those choices and I will follow her example. Will you help or not?"

"I cannot use my magic to help you gain victory in battle, it is against the fairy code of ethics. I can however, intervene where magic is involved. I will do what I can to help with Regina."

"That is all we ask."

"One last question, Snow may understand, but what about her Prince Charming? Will he forgive you if her life is lost?"

Red retrieved Snow's bow and quiver before looking sadly into Blue's eyes.

"I expect not. Nor will I forgive myself."

She turned and took the hardest step of her life. The one that led away from the one person that had always been there for her.